‘The Count of Monte Cristo,’ a three-hour epic adventure adapted from Alexandre Dumas’s literary classic, is leading the race at the Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, with a whooping 14 nominations. ‘Beating Hearts,’ Gilles Lellouche’s sprawling crime romance, follows shortly with 13 nominations.
While a favorite in the Oscar race, Jacques Audiard’s ‘Emilia Perez‘ is nominated for 12 Cesar Awards, including best film and actress for Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldana. The French awards show has highlighted international performers before, notably Kristen Stewart, who won a Cesar nod in 2015 for her supporting role in Olivier Assayas’ “Cloud of Sils Maria.”
Another Oscar contender, Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” is only nominated for a single Cesar award (for best foreign film), while it’s vying for five Academy Awards. “The Substance” is indeed not eligible in most categories at the Cesar Awards due to the fact that it was mainly produced out of France, by Working Title — which is not the case with “Emilia Perez,” produced by Paris-based Why Not Productions.
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Along with “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “Emilia Perez,” the other pics nominated for best film are Boris Lojkine’s “Souleymane’s Story,” Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericorde,” and Emmanuel Courcol’s “En Fanfare.”
In the best foreign film category are also nominated Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winning “Anora,” Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice,” Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” (which was not eligible for a Cesar nomination last year due to its French release date) and Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” Walter Salles’s “I’m Still Here” just came out in theaters in France so it will likely turn up at next year’s Cesar Awards.
The Cesar Awards will take place at the Olympia concert hall in Paris on Feb. 28 with Catherine Deneuve serving as president of the ceremony. As previously announced, Julia Roberts will receive an honorary Cesar Awards.